daveyandsam.com - Archive - 01-Egypt

We waited until the midday sun had passed before we headed to the Sahara to view the pyramids of Giza once more, up close and personal.

Rather than take the usual taxi organised by the hotel, we decided on the underground and public buses – just to get a sense of the real way of life here. We arrived quicker than we had the previous night and at a cost of only 20p each. Our ‘tourist’ taxi the previous night cost us £5 each.

We heard so many stories of people getting ripped off for the camels, it was a mission to get one at a reasonable price. After 20 mins of haggling, and having produced my out-of-date student card, we got our tickets and camel for E£200 (£20), the entrance fee to the pyramids alone costs E£100. Some guys in our hotel paid E£500 for just the camels the previous day – bafoons. All saddled up we headed up the desert which took about a half hour to get to the pyramids. The camel was reasonably comfortable.

It was amazing to see them up close and to get a sense of the size and number of carved rocks it took to build these great monuments. You will see on the third picture the indent in the side of the great pyramid Khafre where Napoleon blasted it trying to knock it down and and on the fourth, the granite frontage that had covered it at onetime – it must have been so beautiful. I took a close up of tip of the pyramid which shows the number and formation of the stones and how smooth it looks. When this face would have covered the whole pyramid, you can imagine how difficult it would have been to locate the actual and spoof entrances – an amazing feet of engineering.

CLASSIC FACT: Napoleon’s troops have long been blamed with blowing off the nose of the Sphinx in the 18th century, because it was an African nose and went against their belief that man descended from the fricans.

The local town and surrounding areas were steeped in poverty, it would bring a lump to your throat. The whole place is filthy with graffiti markings on the base of the pyramids. The locals, government officials, police, traders etc. are all milking the cash cow, but have no respect for the pyramids or the surrounding area, it’s a crying shame. These monuments are truly inspirational and so beautiful you feel you want to kick somebody in the ass to get it sorted. After all the years of construction, I can’t imagine what the Pharaohs would say now if they were to visit.

This place is so worth a visit, it is indescribable unless you can see it with your own eyes.

Contact Daveyandsam

Other products and services from Daveyandsam

Sorry it has taken this long to upload some pictures, it didn’t seem fair or right to upload pictures until we know they were safe and well with their mummy and daddy.
It’s very easy to distinguish Lilly, she has all the bruises – and looks like she’s gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson – a result of being delivered by foresepts.

Christy, a local Honduran dive master, had not seen one since she was snorkeling at the aged of 15, the club owner has been living on the island for 20 years and has never seen one.
The whale shark, or Rhincodon typus, is the largest fish in the sea and not a whale.
Spotting the elusive whale shark is the high point in the careers of many divers.
Most of our crew have never seen one.

In order to preserve this wonder, visitors are only allowed to take in money and water, for fear that tags would be etched and smoke would stain the marble.
Because the river has started to dry up in recent years, two of its piers are leaning by 7%, and if the trend continues, they will only last another 25.
It too has seen the effects of global warming, which is a real concern for the Indian Tourism Board.

There is nothing better than waking up on a relatively clear Himalayan morning –with a cup of milk tea - and seeing an 8,000m peak towering over you – a feeling I have no words to describe.
Nepal has a near monopoly on the world’s highest peaks – eight of the 10 highest.
The last of our trekking posts and we had to end it on a high – pun intended.
The most popular are the Annapurna and Everest Himalayan Ranges.